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Uber valuation jumps to $51B

Kaja Whitehouse
USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Ride-hailing company Uber just completed a round of funding that values them at a whopping $51 billion — or more than four times the value of rental car companies Hertz and Avis combined.

The latest funding came from Microsoft and the investment arm of Indian media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co., according to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources. Uber raised close to $1 billion in the latest round, bringing its total funding to more than $5 billion, the WSJ reported.

Uber has 3.5 billion shares outstanding, according to documents filed with Delaware's Secretary of State, where it is incorporated.

"We filed to authorize this new funding more than two months ago" Uber said in an e-mailed statement. "We aren’t commenting on additional speculation."

Hertz is valued at $7.8 billion. Avis Budget Group, which is also publicly traded, is valued at $4.6 billion.

Uber carries the loftiest start-up valuation in an already frothy tech economy, beating out room rental company Airbnb, which is valued at $25 billion, and Snapchat at roughly $15 billion.

Investors have been lured by the company's fast-paced growth. Uber, which was founded in San Francisco in 2009, is doing business in 58 countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The company recently said it plans to invest $1 billion to expand in India.

Uber is not without risks, however, including challenges from workers over their status as independent contractors.

The company has long kept its expenses down by claiming that it's merely a technology company matching drivers with riders, not a car service company with vehicles to maintain. The saddles drivers with bulk of expenses such as maintenance, insurance, gas and the vehicles themselves.

Some employees have sued to gain employee status, a designation that could substantially increase the company's costs.

Uber has also faced opposition in cities like Paris, because the service matches passengers with drivers who don't have the proper licenses. In New York, some local politicians have expressed concern the impact of Uber's growth on already congested and polluted streets.

Last week a proposed cap on Uber and other for-hire vehicles in New York was put on ice after the start-up agreed to "not flood the streets" until questions about the impact of its growth on traffic can be determined.

Icon for the Uber phone app.
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